The Role of Benazir Bhutto in the Movement for the Restoration of

1

Abstract—Pakistan is a democratic republic but has spent

much time under military rulers, after a few years of

independence Pakistan had faced three martial laws during

1958, 1969, 1977 and latest in 1999 by General Musharraf.

During these martial laws some struggles were also raised

against martial law and for restoration of democracy, even

political parties made alliances against the martial laws, The

aim of the research paper is to analyze the Former Prime

Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto’s policies, politics and

struggle and the role in the in the movement called Movement

for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) and how she fought

against military dictator and mobilized the peoples of Pakistan

to get their rights during dictatorship of General Muhammad

Zia-ulHaq.

I. INTRODUCTION

The Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto

was born at Karachi on June 21st, 1953, received her early

education from Pakistan, and she graduated from Harvard

University after that she did her Diploma in Foreign Affairs

from Oxford University. She was the daughter of Zulifqar

Ali Bhutto (the former President and the first elected Prime

Minister of Pakistan); On the returning back to Pakistan on

one hand, Benazir Bhutto was very much happy being the

first elected student in the history of Pakistan as a President

of Oxford Union Debating Society in UK and she was

planning for her bright future in Pakistan, but at that time

Pakistan was suffering from so many political problems, a

big problem raised after the general election of 1970, in

which the Awami National Party of ShaikhMujeeb-ur-

Rehaman won the majority seats but political powers were

not transferred to them, in the result, the political problems

were increased, due to which the leaders of East Pakistan

decided to get freedom from their Western Wing and

wanted a separate home land for Bengali people and “its

independence was assured on December 16th, 1971”[1].

Manuscript received March 10, 2013; revised May 11, 2013.

Amir Ahmed Khuhro is with Professor, Department of International Relations, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan (e-mail:

[email protected]).

Ali Nawaz Soomro is with Teaching Assistant, M. Phil Research Scholar, Department of Political Science, Shah Abdul Latif University,

Khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan (e-mail: [email protected]).

In this way Pakistan lost its big portion of its East Wing. In this connection, On December 20th 1971 President General Yahya Khan

resigned, in the result Zulifquar Ali Bhutto became the new President and

Civilian Chief Martial Law administrator of Pakistan[2].

II. ASSASSINATION OF Z.A. BHUTTO AND MRD

In 1977 she listened the bad news that her father’s

Government was overthrown in a Military quo by General

Zia-ul-Haq and then her father was arrested in Muhammad

Ahmed Khan Kauri’s murder case, the case was filed by

Ahmed RazaKasuri the son of Muhammad Ahmed Khan

Kasuri, and in this way keeping in view “Gen. Zia-ul-Haq

imposed third martial law 5th July 1977”[2]. During the

whole period Zulifquar Ali Bhutto was of the opinion that

the charges against him in the case were baseless, but the

supporters of zia in lahore high court declared Bhutto guilty

of murder case and death sentence was declared and finally

on April 4th

, 1979 he was hanged [3]. Assassination of Z. A

Bhutto on 4th April 1979 was a great shock for his family as

well as for the whole country; soon after execution Benazir

and her all family members were put under house arrest in

Karachi. After that she became Co-Chairperson of Pakistan

People’s Party (PPP) along with Begum Nussrat Bhutto as

Chairperson in the Place of Zulifquar Ali Bhutto, because

Benazir Bhutto was young and energetic at that time and at

the same time Begum Nussrat Bhutto was in shock of her

husband due to that reason she was unable to concentrate on

the politics as Benazir Bhutto could. The years which

followed her father’s assassination created were very much

difficult situation for her as well as for her family, so as a

co-chairperson of Pakistan People’s Party, Benazir Bhutto

started the struggle from prison for the restoration of

democratic government in Pakistan.

During this struggle consequently, including 10 months

in detention, she remained about 5 years in the jail and

which was not easy time for her because during this she also

faced her father’s death [4].

After some time she was released for a short period and

during that period an alliance was formed for the restoration

of democracy. “The first official meeting of the leaders for

the formation of Alliance was held at 70 Clifton Karachi on

6th February 1981. The leaders were agreed and the alliance

was formed and named Movement for the Restoration of

Democracy (MRD). The following political parties formed

the alliance.

Pakistan People’s Party

Pakistan Muslim League (KhawajaKhairUddin

Group)

Pakistan Democratic Party

Pakistan MazdoorKisan Party

Pakistan National Party

National Awami Party

QuomiMahaz-e-Azadi

The Role of Benazir Bhutto in the Movement for the

Restoration of Democracy: An Analysis

Amir Ahmed Khuhro and Ali Nawaz Soomro

International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 3, No. 3, May 2013

274

Index Terms—Democracy, military, politics, movement,

alliance, election, martial law.

DOI: 10.7763/IJSSH.2013.V3.243

Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam (JUI)

Tahrik-i-Istiqlal (TI)

National Democratic Party

Alliance sponsored a four point program: End of Martial

Law; Restoration of the 1973 Constitution; Parliamentary

elections; and Transfer of power to the public

representatives” [5], soon after starting of MRD, Benazir

was another time arrested and sent to jail but under

international pressure she was released in the year 1984,

after that she left Pakistan and went to UK and worked for

MRD from there. She lived there for hardly two years, when

her younger brother Shah Nawaz Bhutto was assassinated in

France, she returned to Pakistan for burial of her brother and

again she had to leave the country.

III. HER EFFORTS FOR DEMOCRACY

During these days she decided to continue the mission of

her father, so for this purpose she once again planned to

comeback to Pakistan, to pressurize General Mohammed

Zia-ul-Haq for restoration of Democracy in the country. She

landed in Lahore on April 11th, 1986 to fulfill her promises,

“The carefree girl who first left home in 1969 to study at

Harvard had now turned into a woman with an iron will, to

fight the battle left incomplete by her father” [6]. Basically

her ambition was to join Pakistan’s foreign services, not to

become a politician, she was of the opinion that her

tendency was not towards politics, it was her father to

whom she wanted to please by joining oxford union [7].

Benazir Bhutto was warmly welcome by millions of

peoples at Lahore airport, General Zia had fear from it and

due to his fear he played a card of Islamization and

announced for referendum, Benazir Bhutto hoped for

change for democracy in Pakistan but Gen. Zia-ul-Haq also

made his clear intention that power would be transferred to

only those persons which are religious minded, Gen. Zia-ul-

Haq’s so called democracy shunned down when on 14

August 1986 Benazir Bhutto was arrested at her home in

Karachi, when she was just preparing to attend peaceful

rallies on Pakistan’s Independence day. She was given thirty

days detention order and once again she was send to jail. On

other hand, except Jamat-i-Islami all the other political

parties had already joined the alliance (MRD), they once

again arose against the brutal killing of innocent peoples in

lump sum and arrest of thousands of peoples by their own

military. During movement Zia was worried because he was

thinking, if Benazir Bhutto came in power then what will be

his position? So he every time avoided the elections in

Pakistan, while giving an interview General Zia replied, “It

is Miss Bhutto’s unnecessary impractical ambition and her

attitude towards acquiring power which is objectionable”

[8].

Unwillingly under International pressure and the MRD,

Zia had to release the Benazir and she was released on 10th

September 1986, but many people remained in jail. This

struggle was intensified against Gen. Zia-ul-Haq by PPP

along with other political parties under Benazir’s guidance.

LubnaRafique wrote, while PPP gained its full strength as

single political institution in Pakistan, on other hand Zia

denied these facts, “Bhutto retaliated against this by saying

that her party was speaking not out of vengeance, but for

nation building” [9].

After a long struggle Zia announced the elections, the

good step taken by General Zia-ul-Haq through which he

made Junejo as Prime Minister, that step once again gone

into the darkness when Zia abolished the assemblies under

article 58-2(b) on May 29th

1988, after that he announced

that the new election will be held on November 16th

1988[10]. This news was the hope of democracy for the

Benazir and other political parties but Gen. Zia-ul-Haq

announced on 21st July, 1988 that the elections would be

held purely on nonparty basis; the reason was that the PPP

has popular support, there was a reason behind the elections

on non-party, Chandio Amir Ali writes: “Zia preferred the

non- party elections because he was well-aware of the fact

that nonpolitical and non-committed people are easy to

control as compare to political and affiliated peoples. So he

wanted that elected member of assemblies had no political

association as well as membership of any political party or

loyalty to any political leader” [11], now Benazir went to

the courts and she challenged the Zia’s nonparty based

election, because she was of the opinion that in this way the

military rule of Gen. Zia will come to an end and the

democracy will be restored, she wrote, “Just as a flower

cannot bloom in a desert, so political parties cannot flourish

in a dictatorship” [12]. In this way the democracy is

essential for the political parties where they can work freely

without any hindrance and perform their political activities

in a good manner, on other hand, in dictatorship there is no

way for the political parties because history witnessed that

the dictators tried their best just to extend their rule instead

of giving opportunities for the democratic environment.

It was the Benazir Bhutto, for about thirty months she

continued to mobilize world opinion for the restoration of

democracy and violation of human rights by Zia. Zia wanted

to keep the Benazir away from contesting the election, the

election date was suggested by keeping in the view the

pregnancy of Benazir Bhutto, so that she may not be able

for election campaign [13].

IV. DEATH OF MUHAMMAD ZIA-UL-HAQ

“However, the rule of Zia-ul-Haq ended abruptly on 17th

August 1988, when his C-130 Aircraft exploded shortly

after taking off from the Bahawalpur Airport. This disaster

also claimed the lives of five Generals, five Brigadiers, one

Squadron Leader, an American Ambassador and fourteen

members of crew”[14], the report conformed the Zia’s death

in air crash came on T.V and Radio in the same evening,

“C-130 exploded 10 minutes after it took off from

Bahawalpur, 60 miles west of the Indian border, at about

4:30 P.M”[15], Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia describes

that “In 1988 Zia was killed in an airplane crash possibly

caused by sabotage”[16], and whole Pakistan went into a

state of shock, even those who disliked General Zia-ul-Haq

immensely and had waited for such news, they did not know

how to react.

Benazir Bhutto’s reaction on the death of Gen. Zia-ul-

Haq was not so special. The New York Times however


275

quoted Benazir’s expression that, “life and death is in the

hands of God” [17], though, for the purpose of keeping

Benazir Bhutto (PPP) away from power, a group of political

parties formed Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (I.J.I) which

included fundamentalists and Gen. Zia-ul-Haq’s loyal, on

the same night Chairman Senate Ghulam Ishaque Khan took

reins of the country. He also announced November 16, 1988

the same date which was already planned for elections but

he didn’t clear that elections would be held on party basis or

on non-party basis. Though the case filled by Benazir was in

court against non-party based elections, and after the death

of zia the court passed the verdict that the elections will be

held on party basis, in this way the “general elections to the

National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies were held on

16th November 1988 and 19th November 1988, respectively

on Party Basis” [18]. So, on November 16, 1988 the

Pakistani nation went on polls and PPP got majority seats in

National Assembly by winning 93 out of 205 seats

contested. The appointment of Benazir Bhutto as Prime

Minister of Pakistan was an historic moment, in this way

Benazir became the first lady Prime Minister in Muslim

State at the age of 35 years. It was the moment when the

entire world’s attention was focused on this event. The turn

of democracy in Pakistan after eleven years of one-man rule

offered hope to the million, who voted for Benazir Bhutto,

she is considered as the symbol of freedom and justice for

poor Pakistani peoples.

Bhutto family is the only family in Pakistan, which

sacrificed the whole family for the stable democratic system

in Pakistan, “Goher Jamal, said no ideology could succeed

without sacrifices and Bhutto family had given historic

sacrifices for democracy and they all would be long

remembered”[19], she spent her whole life in fighting for

the rights of common people, democracy, stable political

system, foreign Policy and on 27th December 2007 she was

assassinated, while returning from Rawalpindi’s

LiaquatBagh, where she addressed the public gathering.

V. CONCLUSION

Pakistan is a democratic government, but unfortunately

Pakistan has spent long time under martial law regimes and

in the history of democracy the name of Benazir Bhutto

would be remembered, the reason was Benazir Bhutto being

a lady mobilized world opinion and fought for the peoples

of Pakistan through the Democratic Movement against the

dictator General Zia, during this period she started the

movement for the restoration of democracy and against the

violation of human rights. after the death of General Zia-

ulHaq in air crash, the general election were held in

Pakistan, through which Pakistan People’s Party emerged as

the largest party in National Assembly and she became the

first lady Prime Minister on 2nd December 1988, She

became the Prime Minister of Pakistan two times in 1988-

90 and 1993-96. She struggled the whole life for the

democracy because she knew that it is the only democratic

government which provide people’s participation in

government, people participate in government through their

elected representative, which they elect through their right

to vote and this right to vote makes the representatives

answerable towards common people and on other hand

martial law is the opposite of democracy, in which political

rights are suspended, generally without democracy the

concept of good governance is meaningless, because

democracy is the assurance of people’s participation which

is the key element of good governance.

REFERENCES

Amir Ahmed khuhro is the Professor in

Department of International Relations, and the

Director Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Chair at Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Dr. Khuhro was

born on March 27th, 1966 at District Khairpur,

Sindh, Pakistan, Dr. Khuhro has done his Ph. D from BahauddinZakaria University (BZU) Multan,

Pakistan in 2009 in the field of Political Science.

Currently he is working as a Professor in the Department of International Relations, Shah Abdul Latif University,

Khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan, he is the author of two books(1. Personality as

factor in foreign policy making: a case study of Pak-US relations during Benazir Bhutto’s Periods, Published by Lambert Academic Publishing

Germany, 2. Benazir Bhutto (Life and trends in foreign policy), Published

by Lambert Academic Publishing Germany] a part from that he has published more than 20 research papers in various national and

international journals and also presented research papers in international

conferences. Moreover, his fields of specialization are Foreign Policy, Politics of South Asia, Nuclearization. Currently, Prof. Dr. Khuhro is the

Senior member International Economic Development Research Center

(IEDRC) Research Organization, Member Senate, Member Academic Council, Member Board of Advance Studies and Research Department of


276

[1] B. Craig., “Bangladesh,” Microsoft® Encarta® 2009 [DVD],

Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.

[2] D. W. Muhammad, Who is Who & Who is What, World & Pakistan, Lahore: Dogar Publishers, 2005.

[3] H. James, “Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,” Microsoft® Encarta® 2009 [DVD],

Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.[4] K. A. Ahmed and I. A. Choudhry, “Benazir Bhutto's Stuggle for

Democracy,” European Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 10, no. 1, pp.

162-165, 2009.

[5] A. A. Chandio, F. Naseem, and M. Ahmed, “Struggle for Democracy

in Sindh: A Case Study of Movement for the Restoration of

Democracy (1983),” Berkeley Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 1, no. 1,pp. 1-14, Jan 2011.

[6] R. Lubna, Benazir and British Press: 1986-1994, Lahore: Gautam

Publisher, 1994.[7] B. Benazir, Daughter of the East, London: Hamilton, 1988.

[8] The New York Times, August 26th, 1986.

[9] R. Lubna, Benazir and British Press: 1986-1994, Lahore: Gautam Publisher, 1994.

[10] K. A. Ahmed and I. A. Choudhry, “Benazir Bhutto’s Stuggle for

Democracy,” European Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 10, no. 1, pp, 162-165, 2009.

[11] A. A. Chandio, “Non-Party Based General Election of 1985: Causes

and Effects,” in Proc. 2011 International Conference of Social Science and Humanity, Singapore: IPEDR, vol. 5, V2-511-V2-513,

2011.

[12] B. Benazir, Daughter of the East, London: Hamilton, 1988.

[13] P. L. Bhola, Benazir Bhutto: opportunities and challenges, New

Delhi: Yuvraj Publishers, 1989.

[14] S. E. Ullah, Pakistan Affairs, Lahore: Dogar Publisher, 2009-10. [15] S. Elaine. (August 18, 1988). ZIA OF PAKISTAN KILLED AS BLAST

DOWNS PLANE; U.S. ENVOY, 28 OTHERS DIE. [Online].

Available: http://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/18/world/zia-of-pakistan-killed-as-

blast-downs-plane-us-envoy-28-

othersdie.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm[16] M. Z. Ul-Haq, Microsoft® Encarta® 2009 [DVD], Redmond, WA:

Microsoft Corporation, 2008.

[17] The New York Times, August 18th, 1988.[18] S. E. Ullah, Pakistan Affairs, Lahore: Dogar Publisher, 2009-10.

[19] Times Daily. (January 09, 2008). Benazir Bhutto’s struggle for

democracy praised. [Online]. Available: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\01\09\story_9-

1-2008_pg7_57

International Relations, Political Science & Pakistan Studies Shah Abdul

Latif University, Khairpur, Member Editorial Board Aftican journal of

Political Science and International Relations (AJPSIR), Member Editorial

Board Journal of Political Science and International Relations (GJPSIR),

Editor in Chief of Peak Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities

(PJSSH), Member Editorial Board International Science and Investigation Journal (ISIJ), Member Editorial Board IOSR Journal of Humanities and

Social Science.

Ali Nawaz Soomro is teaching assitant in the Department of Political Science at Shah Abdul Latif

University, Khairpur, Sindh Pakistan, Mr. Soomro

was born on April 1st, 1986 at Khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan. Mr. Soomrohas received his Master’s

Degree From Shah Abdul Latif University,

Khairpur In the Department of Political Science. Currently he is doing his M.Phil Degree in Political

Science from Shah Abdul Latif University,

Khairpur, he has attended one national and one international conference

and his research paper was published in International Journal of

Contemporary Research in Business, his fields of specializations are Local Government, Good Governance and Human Rights.Currently, Mr. Soomro

is the Program Team member of QEC (Quality Enhancement Cell) Shah

Abdul Latif University, Khairpur. Mr. Soomro was awarded silver medals for securing first class first in B.A (Hon’s) and M.A level as well.


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The Role of Benazir Bhutto in the Movement for the Restoration of